What should a business voicemail say?
A business voicemail should say five things in this order: a brief greeting ("Hi" or "Hello"), the business name and your name, a one-line reason for missing the call, a specific callback timeframe ("within 4 business hours" — not "as soon as possible"), and an alternative contact method (text, email, booking link). Total time: 15–25 seconds. What it should not say: long disclaimers, hours of operation that change seasonally, or anything that makes the caller question whether they reached the right business. The single biggest improvement most business voicemails could make is shortening to under 20 seconds and replacing "we'll get back to you as soon as possible" with a real number — "within 4 business hours" or "by end of next business day." Specificity converts undecided callers into voicemail-leavers; vague promises send them to a competitor. Capture the messages voicemail can't. Get an AI receptionist that captures every call.
What to say vs what to skip
Most business voicemails are too long. Use this as a checklist — keep the left column, cut the right.
| Say this | Skip this |
|---|---|
| Brief greeting ("Hi") | "Thank you for calling and welcome to…" |
| Business name + your name | Long company tagline or motto |
| One-line reason (in/out of office) | Detailed availability schedule |
| Specific callback timeframe | "As soon as possible" |
| One alternative contact | Three different alternative contacts |
| (End politely, hang up) | Disclaimers, legal notices, hours-of-operation that change |
Optimum total length: 15–25 seconds. Anything past 25 increases hang-up rate sharply.
What the data says about business voicemail
- Average voicemail greeting length
- 32 seconds — too long for ~67% of callers
- Voicemails left when greeting is 15–25s
- ~22% — versus ~12% when greeting runs over 30s
- Business calls that go to voicemail nationally
- ~62% based on industry studies of SMB call answering
- Voicemail callers who try a competitor next
- 85% — they don't leave a message and don't try again
Related questions
- What is a good voicemail greeting?A good voicemail greeting is short (15–25 seconds), names you and the business, gives a clear callback timeframe, and offers an alternative way to reach you. Here's the formula plus when to skip voicemail entirely.
- What is a good business voicemail greeting?A good business voicemail greeting names the company, gives a specific callback time, and offers an alternative contact. 15–25 seconds total. Includes ready-to-use scripts.
- Voicemail vs AI receptionist: which is better for my business?AI receptionists capture 4–5× more messages than voicemail because they answer live. Voicemail makes sense at zero cost for very low call volume; AI takes over above ~10 calls/month.